Radio-Frequency Self-Referencing Technique With Enhanced Sensitivity for Coarse WDM Fiber Optic Intensity Sensors

Abstract

A self-referenced passive optical network (PON) with coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) is reported for remotely addressing optical intensity sensors with enhanced sensitivity. The self-referencing remote configuration is described as a finite-impulse-response (FIR) filter in reflective operation using two fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) and a fiber delay line. The antisymmetrical phase response of the configuration permits to achieve a self-referencing measurement parameter two times more sensitive than reported previously. To enhance the power budget of the network, CWDM devices with low insertion losses are used for spectral splitting of a radio-frequency (RF) modulated broadband light source (BLS). The network topology and the sensor's interrogation technique are theoretically analyzed and experimental results validating the models are reported.